HYDERABAD: South Zone Task Force sleuths, in a joint operation with Bahadurpura police, on Monday busted an interstate gang allegedly involved in attention diversion offences and stealing ATM cards in the process across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Karnataka.
Three gang members, Vail Ali of Haryana, Farman of Uttar Pradesh and Obaid Arif of Hyderabad, were arrested, while two others remain at large. Police seized Rs 7.6 lakh in cash from those arrested. A total of 18 cases, with 10 registered in Telangana, have been detected against this gang.
According to police, the gang primarily targeted senior citizens, women and illiterate persons. Their modus operandi involved approaching people at ATMs under the pretext of assisting with withdrawals. While one accomplice observed the victim’s ATM PIN, another would surreptitiously replace the original ATM card with a duplicate. The gang would then immediately flee the scene, using the original ATM card to withdraw cash from nearby ATMs and Point of Sale (POS) terminals.
A case has been registered under Sections 318(4) and 303(2) r/w 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Bahadurpura police station.